wake up calls

I have so many wake up calls sounding. There is the one that rings each morning just before the sun, there is the shuffle of feet telling me that my children are here, there is the one that alerts me when things are about to become pandemonium, and there is the one that reminds me each day to remember the lives of my students once they leave the classroom. I have found it easy to forget the realities of the lives of my students and their families, and I must wonder if it is because it is simply easier not to think about it. This week however, the wake up call was made of paper, resting in my hands, telling me exactly what had been so easy to overlook the past four weeks.

This week the parents of my students applied for the free and reduced lunch and breakfast program offered by the Department of Education. It was surprisingly personal information to be passed through my hands, as my eyes were the liaison between the application and the district office. As a result, I now know the income of many of the families in my classroom. It is shocking to discover that the parents of most of my students, with at least one child and in many cases more, make far less money than I do. And I have no one to support but myself, no children, no parents, no debt. Thus sets in the guilt. However this realization instilled within me the greatest levels of admiration for the parents of my students, dispelling so many myths of poverty. Particularly, the myth that parents struggling financially cannot or do not care for their children, as many of the parents of my students demonstrate on a daily basis that they care so deeply about the success of their child.

Still I must wonder, seeing these numbers in front of my eyes, numbers that often were less than half of my monthly salary with four children's names written on the application, how do they have anything? How will they have anything that they need to succeed? Could I have succeeded had I not had so many books in my bedroom or texts and resources in my classrooms? Would I be a great reader if I never had access to books? When I think of those people who blame low income students and communities for low graduation rates, college attendance rates, and test scores, stating that they are 'bad kids' or 'stupid kids' or 'their families don't care about education' I wish that for just a moment they could see what I see and take a moment to reflect upon their own lives and ask themselves the question, "If this were me, where would I be?"